Only on Sundays?

In her 16th Dear Hoop Mom column for HoopGurlz.com, Teresa Wippel discusses a dilemma for a player from a church-going family.

I'm a 7th grader who really likes basketball, and I want to play on a team. Since my family and I go to church and are Christians, my parents don't approve of playing basketball on Sundays. As a result, I haven't been able to join a team, because all of them play on Sundays. Do you have any ideas for how I could find a team?

V.B.

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Dear V.B.:

It is hard to find teams that don't play on Sundays because most of the leagues and tournaments usually schedule games both days of the weekend. That’s because it's hard to fit all those tournament games into one day and because most kids go to school Monday-Friday, they can't do them any other day either.

We have families on our team who like to go to church, too. They don't like it when we have to play on Sundays, but they know that we need everyone to play because we're a team.

I'm hoping that by answering your letter here, we may find other girls like you who could form a team that plays only on Saturdays, whenever possible. (Some leagues do allow you to request certain days only to play -- it would be harder to do, however, with tournaments.)

Or perhaps your parents would be willing to let you play Sundays if the games were in the afternoon, so you could go to church in the morning.

If there are other girls and/or parents who have this same issue, please write to me at , and I will put you in contact with V.B.

Hoop Mom

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Teresa Wippel is team manager of the Warriors Basketball Club, a 5th Grade girls' team from the Seattle area, and mom to Warriors post player Amanda Waldron. In her other life, she is a freelance writer and editor. To ask Teresa a question, email her at

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Hoop Mom on Coaches
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Hoop Mom on Nutrition on the Run
Hoop Mom on Looking for a Select Team
Hoop Mom on Commitment to Team
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Hoop Mom on Subbing for Injuries
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